Calendar for June 11th, 2013

King Kamehameha I Day (Hawaii)

Hawaii is the only American state that was once a kingdom with its own monarchy. One of the greatest kings was King Kamehameha I, also called, appropriately, Kamehameha the Great. His name means "the very lonely one" or "the one set apart." A statue of him can be found in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

King Kamehameha I probably was born some time around 1758, the year when Halley's comet became visible over Hawaii. A courageous warrior, the king conquered and united the entire Hawaiian islands into one kingdom. During his reign, which lasted from 1782 to 1819, Hawaii became an important center in the fur and sandalwood trades.

The last king in the Kamehameha dynasty was King Kamehameha V, who ruled from 1863 to 1872. During this time, the king proclaimed June 11 as a day to honor his grandfather, King Kamehameha I. Nowadays, King Kamehameha I Day is celebrated with parades, singing, and feasts.

King Kamehameha V was succeeded by King Lunalilo, King Kalakaua, and finally, the much beloved Queen Lili'uokalani. It was she who wrote the famous song, "Aloha Oe."

1500s

1509: King Henry VIII of England and Katherine of Aragon were married

1830s

1837: Broad Street Riot, Boston, Massachusetts

1860s

Born 1864: Richard Strauss (German composer)

1910s

Born 1910: Jacques-Yves Cousteau (marine explorer)

Born 1913: Vince Lombardi (football coach)

1919: Sir Barton won triple crown

1930s

1938: Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitched his first no-hit, no-run professional baseball game

1950s

Born 1953: Peter Bergman (actor)

Born 1956: Joe Montana (football player)

Born 1959: Hugh Laurie (actor)

1970s

Born 1978: Joshua Jackson (actor)

Died 1979: John Wayne (actor)

1980s

Died 1985: Karen Quinlan, (coma patient). In a pioneering "Right to Die" case her parents fought to remove her from a respirator after she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state from ingesting tranquilizers and alcohol, after the respirator was removed she lived for many more years before passing away

1990s

Died 1999: DeForest Kelley (actor)

2000s

Died 2003: David Brinkley (reporter and commentator whose NBC broadcasts from 1956-70 helped define and popularize television news in America. Brinkley hosted one of the earliest television news magazines, David Brinkley's Journal, in the early 1960s)